ASEAN at 50

Posted by AsiaViews | Sep 8, 2017 | 0 |

Before World War II, the lands comprising Southeast Asia had little in common with each other, apart from geographical contiguity. Vietnam was an appendage of the Far East, belonging to France. Everything else, if one had to call it, was ‘Further India’. Only with the creation of the Allies’ South East Asia Command did the idea of Southeast Asia begin cohering in the popular mind.

But it took more than an accident of history for anything resembling regionalism to take root in Southeast Asia. As Dr.Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok explores in (TITLE), three things have enabled ASEAN to thrive so far: pressures that came with the Cold War, the region’s collective priority for autonomy and development and the choice to leverage the web of international trade and, more recently, security links to maintain the region’s ‘centrality’.

These three factors have aligned well with Cambodia’s interests, as Senior Minister Prak Sokhonn recollects in (TITLE), his country’s journey with ASEAN for the past two decades. Priority for domestic autonomy and development provided the space for a traumatized Cambodia to mend itself without foreign meddling. ASEAN’s web of international trade agreements, likewise, brought Cambodia options to develop its economy when it chose to look outward again.

As it turns 50 this year, ASEAN’s deepening process has been well on track since Cambodia’s entry in 1999. If anything, Dr. Thitinan notes, ASEAN economic integration has proceeded at different speeds: mainland Southeast Asia is integrating at a much faster rate than maritime Southeast Asia.

Yet, not all is well with ASEAN. Criticism of ASEAN’s priority for domestic autonomy, that is to say unwillingness to meddle in the domestic affairs of neighboring countries, has grown stronger since the end of the Cold War. The Rohingya conflict in Myanmar and the political struggle against the Shinawatra family in Thailand, are turning up this line of criticism up a notch. ASEAN’s divisions, especially when it squares off against China, and inability to deal with problems that touch on member countries’ central interests are some issues Dr. Thitinan also notes.

Over the past 50 years, ASEAN has grown effective in areas where its member states have allowed it to be. Meanwhile, progress in other areas has been limited because member states have not found it in their interest. This situation is a reflection of the region’s collective priority for domestic autonomy, and this factor is running up against the wish for a greater ‘centrality’ for ASEAN. After all, an ASEAN that is riven has little credibility to set up international platforms or initiatives indicative of its ‘centrality’.

AsiaViews

About The Author

AsiaViews

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Neigborhood Watch

Subscribe To Newsletter

POINTS TO PONDER

EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

ASEAN at 50